Africa: Reviews from our travellers

"We had a brilliant trip. We saw lots of amazing sights and animals, and stayed in some wonderful places. The Namibian people were very friendly and helpful.

Some of the long drives between places are a bit boring, in particular the one from Sossusvlei to Swakopmund.

If we ever went to Namibia again, the only things we would do differently are:
- stay in Windhoek on arrival, so that we don't have a long drive on the first day
- hire a 4-wheel drive vehicle, instead of a saloon car. The car was fine on most of the roads, but some roads are very rutted and bumpy, particularly the private roads to some of the lodges
- take a bird book." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip

"Excellent. A wonderful holiday. Brilliantly organised." Read full review: 24 nights in Africa; 5 on a Botswana safari

"Yet another fabulous trip organised by Expert Africa." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 13 on a Tanzania safari

"Fantastic, we're already planning our next trip. A very memorable holiday, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Suggestions for improvement:

Just one - the travel notes say that an adaptor for South Africa and Namibia is hard to find, and it may be better to take a UK power lead and re-wire it to a local plug. This isn't very helpful, because most power leads for battery chargers and shavers have sealed plugs, so you can't disconnect them without damaging them. However, I think the adaptors are becoming more widely available - I found them at Nomad Travel shops, at Selfridges, on Amazon, at Heathrow and at Johannesburg Airport, and if I'd kept looking no doubt I would have found them in lots of other places." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"An excellent trip with some wonderful game viewing, All the group were able to capture excellent images.

Suggestions for improvement:

Not really. I have booked about 7 trips with you and I have generally been very pleased.

Sabina was particulary helpful this year." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 13 on a Namibia trip

"As Africa/Namibia virgins we were perhaps not quite as prepared for the long distances involved as we thought and got very tired at times whilst we acclimatised to the gravel roads and heat. You need to be prepared to get going early in the day, something we were not terribly good at in the beginning especially with all the wonderful wildlife and stunning scenery to photograph.

With hindsight it would perhaps be better not to try and cover such a large area but on the whole it was fantastic to do what we did, we felt we had had a real adventure and met some wonderful, charming people. All Sabina's arrangements for us went perfectly and we would like to thank her very much for her care and attention." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a Namibia trip

"Best holiday we have ever been on. From beginning to end we were treated to spectacular sights and experiences. The contrast of all the lodges added to the exotic feel of our honeymoon.

Suggestions for improvement:

I would suggest that the drive from Zebra River to Swokopmund was one of the most boring parts of the holiday. The main road could have been avoided if we had a permit to drive fhrough the national park. In reterospect we should have picked one of these up in Windhoek so we could do this.

An excellent geological fieldguide about Namibia is "The Roadside Geology of Namibia, 2nd Revised Edition" by Gabi Schneider (2008, ISBN 978-3-443-15084-6). It is far superior than "A fascination of geology" recommended by the Brant guide.

Detour to the Hobra meteroite was well worth it.

If going again we would spend less time in Swokopmund, and more time in the bush.

Purchased goods are entitled to a VAT refund at Windhoek airport if you have the invoice handy, although you have to give them your bank details.

Camera tripod was the best thing we took with us, for timer photos of us and night shots of the game," Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 18 on a Namibia trip

"The whole trip was a once in a lifetime experience.

Even the travel days were fun and the Zambian people were friendly and professional. Because there are so few camps the experience felt very select and it was rare to encounter any other vehicle when out and about.

The scenery was fantastic and very varied - I was not expecting to see such lovely stands of leadwood and ebony trees. Altogether the best safari experience we have had.

Suggestions for improvement:

I cannot really think of anything. I always dither a lot before finally selecting an itinerary and Claire was very patient as I kept coming back with questions or changes of date!" Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Zambia safari

"RPS in South Luangwa was first class once again and their operation the reason we went back to Zambia.

Kafue with Wilderness' Rivers and Plains Exploration was more of a economic extension to enable us to see a different area and generally we very much enjoyed it." Read full review: 19 nights in Africa; 11 on a Zambia safari

"We had a family visit at the centre of this trip and the itinerary was built around it. Had it not been for the Stellenbosch hotel mistake this would have been a 99.5% success but the D'Ouwe dragged it down to a 98%er.

We love your holidays and the efficiency and expert kowledge you apply to getting it right for us. Long may it continue. We look forward to planning a Namibia/Botswana combo with you for 2009!

Oddly the only Okavango camp we have not wanted to return to was Sandibe also run by CCA who manage Kwandwe. We felt the Sandibe buildings similarly poorly suited to the environment. I would welcome the opportunity to talk about the Kwandwe management, the D'Ouwe Werf and Samara game." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 12 on a South Africa trip